Alexia Lipman

Every event in a state championship provides excitement and drama, but this year the relays may decide the team title. But don't expect to see the same line-ups from last week. Some additional fresh legs --courtesy of athletes that did not qualify in an individual event-- may help the common man become the hero. We watched it happen on Sunday at the Division 1 Championships, and those same teams remain in the hunt this week.

Norwell has approximately just 20 girls on their indoor track team. But winning championships is about quality not quantity.  Two athletes from Chuck Martin’s squad had a massive impact on the team point totals and distinguished themselves as dominant competitors in the division. The Newburyport boys were impressive in the distance races; collecting 15 points in the 2 mile, 16 points in the mile, and 8 points in the 4x800m.  But they were not one dimensional in their attack; scoring in 9 of the 13 contested events.

The 1000m continues to be a bright spot for the state.  On Saturday, freshman Maya Halprin Adams (Cambridge R&L) won the Large School event in 3:10, then on Sunday three girls ran under the Small School meet record of 3:08.12 set in 2006 by Meg Looney.  Alexia Lipman (Broomfield) won the event in a MA#4 time of 3:04.07. She was followed by Catalina Dominick of Danvers (3:05.66) and Brooke Hansel of Lunenburg (3:06.30). 

Lipman, Gompers, and Scott are three of the state's best....... regardless of age.

Many events are wide-open as the seniors take one last shot at glory.

Wachusett scored big points in the distance races, and Nadia Eke completely dominated the horizontal jumps.

The beginning of the outdoor season signals the end of the indoor season.  Over the next few days, MileSplitMass will take a look at the top performers from each class and highlight some of the outstanding performances of the indoor season.

 All 13 events were needed to decide both team championships as Old Rochester and Newburyport win close ones.

  Keep up to date with the latest news from all the league championship meets. Photo by Henry Finch.